T-Mobile to remove the iPhone from its BYOD marketing campaign

According to a report in TmoNews, T-Mobile is no longer allowed to use the Apple iPhone name when marketing its “Bring Your Own Device” program. The BYOD program offered discounted rates to iPhone owners who switched to T-Mobile. This policy change was announced in a leaked internal memo obtained by TmoNews.

T-Mobile is the only major US carrier that does not sell the iPhone, but that didn’t stop the carrier from trying to jump on the Apple bandwagon. The wireless carrier courted iPhone owners by advertising that it could save these Apple customers $1200 over the course of the lifetime of their contract. The carrier also trained their employees on the iPhone and even carried nanoSIMs for customers who wanted to make the switch.

We have no idea why T-Mobile decided to remove the iPhone name from its marketing efforts. The request to remove the name could have come from Apple, which may have been unhappy with T-Mobile using its brand in advertising, or it could have been from a rival like AT&T, which may be upset with T-Mobile trying to lure away its customers.